Stabilizer jacks are not for lifting your RV

Most travel trailers have a stabilizer jack on each corner, and fifth wheels normally have one on each rear corner. Why are they there? These jacks are intended to keep your camper from bouncing on the suspension when you move about inside. Please! They are not designed to lift your camper.

Properly using stabilizer jacks means they are snugged up, but not more than snug. To do more than going to the snug point means you will ruin your jack in short order. If you want to lift your camper, use bottle jacks and support it in multiple places.

As you will quickly discover, if you have not already done so, frame rails and travel trailer frame rails in particular are not entirely rigid, and ratcheting up the jack will often distort things enough so doors stick or, in some cases, slideouts bind.

It really boils down to common sense. Components that are used in the manner in which they are intended will give many years of service and require replacement far less often. Save your money and your frustration — use your equipment the way it was intended.

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